Blocking out the scenery , breaking my mind– Tesla (the band not the car)

One of the first things I do in working with small businesses is look at their signage. I apply this simple rule ” if I Tom your detail oriented business consultant can’t see or understand fully you sign how can you expect your customers to see you?” The problem with signs I experience is two fold. First people put up signs but then forget they are there. Things like dirt , lights going out, cracks, some type of growth in front of your signs(trees or brush etc)

I can here you now Tom that’s not me. I can bet you it is. First do you keep your street facing sign lit 24 hours a day? You absolutely should!!!! The people passing by your business when you are not open are just as important as when you are. As a matter of fact I say it’s more important because everybody has their sign on when they are open. As your potential client I’d say that chaos of competition for my attention is insane. Like I stated at the top”break my mind” When you closed and maybe just maybe your potential client drives by and you sign is lit and your competition is not. Our eyes pick out signs so much better at night than during the day having your sign lit WELL is a no brainer.
If you tell me that lame excuse I don’t want my lights when I not open I’d go through the roof. I am very much like Steve Jobs when it come to my passion about the little details.If your were one of my privileged clients I’d say do you shut down website when your closed? then keep the damn lights on. Note I didn’t say keep your open sign on. Sooner or later one client of yours is going to say these magic words and this always happens” I was driving by late and I thought I’d stop in and check you out. Next I’m going to save you some money….

I think the biggest thing Steve Jobs did was show people how important they were. For the first time ever he put the customer at the center of everything he did. Steve jobs keynotes weren’t about product introductions as much as they were the future instructional guide to new products. Have you ever wondered why every other CEO in technology sounds like a babbling idiot where 15 years ago the same conversation was an exciting display of computing power. See every other CEO put the machine, technology or whatever he wanted ahead of you the customer and said if you want a,b, and c capability you have to buy this to get it. Everybody dominated the customer mostly out of confusing them. Other CEOs would stand and still do saying mines faster, better, cheaper and they never ever tell us why those things are important to us. Steve Jobs always startedvwith the ultimate customer question . How to does having a b and c capability how does that change your life for the better? . It was never about the device instead it was ONLY it always how it could change you life if you used it. One great Steve gift he never said to the customer you need to buy this for these reasons. Instead he started with this what we have , this why it makes sense and here’s how to use it.

Think about this very powerful point — what happened to the instruction booklet.? Yes you remember that book that when you paid for your technology taught you HOW to use it. Usually written very bad but without it we could even answer these simple questions without it. How does it turn on, how to I put the batteries in right, and the best one that all devices from your VCR, cordless phones , alarm clocks and microwaves and don’t. Forget the Walkman even need this answered– How do I set this stupid clock anyway? . It was your role to figure it out for yourself and that was an extremely frustrating process . People hated the idea of the time it would take to learn how to use these great capabilities . This exactly why the tablet computer was around for years and a complete failure until the iPad showed up. The more complex the technology the longer it took to learn. Apple will never be beat for one reason that no matter what happens the customer is always the center of attention in every single thing they do. Technology was made for geeks not humans until Steve showed back up in 1997. Even though I never met my hero I could absolutely hear him ” We need to make this so simple and so intuitive the customers will forget they even need an instruction booklet. ” Here’s where you can truly see how extremely important your confidence is to Apple and this is how Steve turned the tables on his competition. Remember what would happen at Christmas with one instruction manual was missing. It was complete and utter disappointment till you found it. And yet I’ve never heard one person ever say this to me “where the instructions ?”when opening an Apple product. When you have created something so easy to use people don’t expect instructions or need them you have accomplished a miracle. You’ve given people the time back they had lost in the past. The power of the customers time ,confidence and trust that is generated to just start using the device instead of having to take time to learn how to by reading a book is enormous . How long did it take you to learn about you Sony discman versus your iPod or your old cellphone versus the iPhone and the most time consuming of all PC versus a Mac.
To think that my $700 iPad didn’t need any instructions to use is astounding. Can you do the same thing with a pc ? Nope and its Not even close.

When I started this blog a few years ago the only thing I wanted it for was a place to store my business ideas so I could use them later. I did absolutely no promotion hell I didn’t even tell my own family it existed until I got to 10,000 hits. I found out that people are really looking for the business ideas that I had in always kept to myself. It’s been a humbling experience to say the least but now going to go out and live my dream of taking these ideas which I have gotten make emails and comments about in the global world instead of just my local one. The number one request that I have gotten in an email message from the readers of this site has been this “how do I apply your ideas to my business? ” I have given limited answers but I want to give more so I have started Impact Business Consultants (website announcement soon) which will allow me to take all my time and energy and focus it on your business. So before I could send you resources I thought would be best but because I didn’t have time to research your industry, business model, or sales and marketing efforts, etc I didn’t get to involved like I do with my local clients because they are paying the bills. I really never offered you my paid services because I was used to meeting my clients in person. However with the attention this blog has gotten very overwhelming. Now over 43,000 views have hit this blog something I never even dreamed of or really focused on. I offering you the same service and some even better than I do now but their will be a cost involved and I will be taking on just a few clients and no competitors in your industry– first come only one served. If you are interested in getting more of a hands on approach where I can guarantee my results please call me immediately at 302-757-0210 or email me at tom4change@gmail.com. I am going to offer my service at a reduced rate because I am looking for the tele or web-based business referrals.

Again I Humbly thank you .You believed in me and have pushed me to believe in myself . I am eternally grateful.

P.S. I’ll be posting now more often so please keep being open and honest with these ideas the success of this blog depends on it

1st you NEED to realize that your business is complete different and should be treated as such then your personal pages. People put up profiles on social websites for a few reasons– get new friends, keep in touch with old friends or have a place to voice your thoughts and opinions among people they like and or trust. HOWEVER– Your business should only be on Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace for ONE pure Goal– To make money !!!!

This is extremely important because many business owners are running their personal and business profile the same way and it can ruin your business forever!

and you work this utilizing these methods

3 REASONS–and only 3– 1)To get people to spend more money when they buy (if they buy $10 use it for promos to get them to spend $12 next time) and 2) How to get them to buy what you have more often (if they buy once a month to get them to buy once every two or three weeks ) and lastly 3) how to get one customer to bring in more customers (what is going to cause one person to tell the people they trust or trust them that you exist and they support your business as well — growing a customers circle of influence to benefit you)

For you business realize this what you put on on the web is permanent one and you can NEVER retract it. It is called Caching of a webpage in which your browser saves every version of a website to see this use achive.org the home of Googles Wayback machine. And what your thing as a funny , cool or neat idea or opinion your OTHER visitors might not agree with and THEREFORE my chose to NOT use your business because they read such things even though you do. This is a HUGE point for those people that have never used your business in the past and are searching the web to determine IF they are going to use your business today. Think about how often you use review sites to purchase a product to see generally how people feel about it. Its great because they are people you don’t know and there for are mostly just speaking pure about their experience. PEOPLE ARE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING WITH YOUR BUSINESS .

HERE IS THE KILLER OF BUSINESS ON THE WEB YOU WILL never FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT IS CAUSING PEOPLE TO DECIDE NOT TO USE YOUR BUSINESS . SO LOOK AT YOUR REVIEWS, FEEDBACK AND POSTS VERY CAREFULLY EVERYDAY BECAUSE THEY ARE DICTATING THE REAL OPINIONS .

IF YOU WANT POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO CHOOSE YOUR BUSINESS OVER YOUR COMPETITION email me at tom4change@gmail.com and will show you how exactly drive the web, social media and review sites in your favor .

People always ask me for ideas that can grow their sales fast which is very easy for me. The problem is they get annoyed when I tell them to slow down and build great systems underneath the business before I build or while I build the sales. Here’s the thing everybody doesn’t realize to many sales can kill you your business faster than low sales because if the systems/ methods /structure you have in place can’t handle the growth. It will crush you and your customers will be very upset and probably leave . So I ask my clients “Do you want to be here in five years or do you just want me to double your sales now?” If you interest in working with me be prepared with an answer I’m going to ask you as well.

Imagine working as and electrical engineer and being successful but giving it all up to go live you passion– creating food people want. When the new owner of Willy’ Philly’s in Maynard Ma shared his story with me I was amazed. The amount of courage that he has to follow his dream when everybody around him was telling him that he was nuts is amazing in itself. As Chris tells it though After September 11 2001 the work became harder to find in his field and he looked inside and asked the question we all need to which is “What do I really love to do?”. He remembered way back to his childhood when one day after school he decide completely unsupervised to create his own food. Now at the ripe old age or 7 or 8 he could have burnt down the house or created an edible food. Lucky for myself and the people that come out to visit Willy’s Philly’s in Maynard Ma he didn’t burn the house down. He along side his girlfriend Jo decided to invest in a trailer and build a menu with clientele of what Chris figured people would like because he liked it. He was right the trailer took off to the point when the opportunity presented itself for Willy’s Philly’s in Maynard Ma a closed cheesesteak place he had a really tough decision. He was struggling with with the decision because he knew he did not want to let down his existing customers but this was a great chance to take a unique idea– Cheesesteaks and put his mark on it.

I decide to try Willy’s Philly’s months beforehand to go and try and prove them wrong. As my reader now I’m from Philadelphia I know Philly Cheesesteaks (Pat, Gino’s Jim’s, Tony Luke’s, or Delasandros). And being from Philly you have this attitude that says Philly only does cheesesteaks right nobody else will get it. The original owner went to Philly and taste all the steaks and created the blend of all and I got to say I he created a damn good Philly steak. I noticed they had closed a few months back right after being featured on the Phantom Gourmet and then I really stated craving one. So when they opened back up I was so glad. A few friends of mine went over from work and it was great. Chris and Jo the new owners were so happy to see us like they known us forever (like Cheers’) and it was a great family feeling. Over the last few weeks and testing on new things on the menu we have developed a friendship and when I heard the story I knew my readers would appreciate it because I’m sure many of you have had to make similar choices to follow your heart and open your businesses. So get out there and tell you story its something to be proud of!!!